Art meets fashion: Luka Fineisen designs a display window in Düsseldorf
“Systems of Desire” is the title of Luka Fineisen’s latest work. Beginning on February 19, 2015, it will be on view for circa four weeks at a location that seems unusual from a museum perspective. On the initiative of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, this US-based artist has created a two-part installation in a display window of the Breuninger Department Store in Düsseldorf.
For #32, Alissa Krusch was able to watch over the artist’s shoulder during installation work.
#32: “Systems of Desire” plays with oppositions. One window is entirely black, the other white, while in both, the floor is covered with articles of clothing, jewelry, and accessories. How would you characterize this work?
Fineisen: As an installation that is part of a lavish piece of architecture, I have treated the display window as a container. With the help of the feather material that flies around the interior spaces, every cubic centimeter of the display window volume is filled.
#32: What made you decide for the polarity between black and white? Are you deliberately distancing your work from the bright colors of fashion and design?
Fineisen: Once you have been presented with a window that has a concave as well as a convex pane of glass, you are inescapably working now with contrast. I believe this is the first time I’ve formulated such a complementarity this directly. Here, I'm exploiting the sheer configuration the existing architecture.
#32: Your project for Breuninger is not your first collaboration with a fashion house. In Paris, you designed display windows for the Galeries Lafayette. Is there something in particular about such spaces that appeal to you? Does this perhaps involve a special relationship with the viewer?
Fineisen: In Paris, I was invited by la maison rouge, and here now by Marion Ackermann to do something at Breuninger, which is of course a promising circumstance for such a location. Like a church space, for example, a display window has a highly charged background that should not be underestimated. A couple of years ago, I still wouldn't have had the courage. At this point, I'm drawn to the idea of taking it on directly, exploiting the situation, with all of its energies.
#32: You studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy with Fritz Schwegler and Irmin Kamp. In the meantime, you live in the US, and in recent years, you've had exhibitions there and in France, and taught in South Korea. What is it like for you to exhibit again in Düsseldorf? What is your impression of the city’s current art scene?
Fineisen: From my point of view, the art scene in Düsseldorf and in the Rhineland in general, with the fertile soil of the Academy, with the art scene and all of the state-supported institutions, and with my gallery, the Galerie Rupert Pfab, it's great! I would have nothing against living here again at some point. Until then, I'm enjoying California.
#32: What are your next projects? Will they take you back to the US?
Fineisen: Yes, in December, I'll be relocating from San Francisco to LA, I'm really looking forward to it, I'm eager to see what it will feel like to be part of the giant mass of the art scene there.
#32: Do have any special art or culture tips for those planning a trip to San Francisco in the near future?
Fineisen: Have a look at the in hosfelt gallery in the Mission District, it has enormous new rooms, there really is space in the States... In June, I'm having my first solo show there.
For further reading:
The installation in the Breuninger display window, a collaboration with the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, will be on view until March 21st.
www.breuninger.de
Luka Fineisen is represented by the Galerie Rupert Pfab in Düsseldorf.
Found on their webpage is a selection of works and the artist’s complete biography.
http://www.galerie-pfab.com/de_DE/artist/luka_fineisen/works
On her website, Luka Fineisen displays a selection of past projects with detailed documentation.
www.lukafineisen.de
